Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska said she was “woken up by the bombs” during Russia’s invasion before fleeing her country last week, after playing with her younger sister in a doubles match at the WTA tournament in Lyon on Monday.
The 21-year-old and her sister Ivanna, 15, were given a wildcard into the doubles draw after escaping Ukraine, travelling by car, on foot, by boat and by plane to reach France.
They lost 6-2, 6-4 to Spaniard Georgina Garcia-Perez and Switzerland’s Xenia Knoll in the first round, but understandably their focus was on what is happening back home.
“I am very proud of my sister but at the same time, we did not have too much energy because of what is happening in Ukraine,” Dayana Yastremska, who said she went three nights without sleep, told a press conference.